Tax-receipt blank



(No Model.) J. S. HARRISON 8v J. M. HOWARD.

TAX RECEIPT BLANK.

Patented Jan. ZZ, 1889.`

BSE d l4A PETERS, Pxwloulhognphcn wnshingw. u. C.

UNITED STATES 'PATENT OFFICE.

.IOSIAH S. HARRISON, OF LEBANON, AND JOHN M. HOIVARD, OF THORN- TOIVN,INDIANA.

TAX=RECEI PT BLAN K.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 396,560, dated January22, 1889.

Application tiled May 14, 1888. Serial No. 273,848. (No model.)

To all whom, it may concern.-

Be it known that we, JosIAH S. HARRISON and JOHN M. HOWARD,citizens ofthe United States, residing at Lebanon and Thorntown, respectively, inthe county of Boone and State of Indiana, have invented certain new anduseful Improvements in Tax-Receipt Blanks; and We do hereby declare thefollowing to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention,such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains tomake and use the same.

This invention relates to improvements in tax-receipt blanks, and hasspecial reference to the class of tax-receipts used by countytreasurers, the object of the invention being to produce a receipt-blankwhich shall be simple and comprehensible, and which will embody severaldistinct and important featuresi. e., a main receipt embodying aplurality of receipts or separate tax accounts so arranged as to bedistinct in themselves, and also so combined as to be calculatedtogether and with reference to each other, a coupon embodying theessential `features of the main receipt-that is, a duplicate inbrief-Which coupon may be removed from the main receipt and iiled awayby the clerk who gives out the receipt, for future reference incomparing books, and a stub embodying the essential features of the mainreceipt and a duplicate substantially of the coupon.

Heretofore in receiving and receipting for taxes it has been necessaryto dranT up a separate receipt for each tax paid-such as State andcounty tax, gravel-road tax, railroad tax, ditch and miscellaneous tax,duc-and it Was necessary to refer to 'all previous receipts given uponcertain of the above-mentioned taxes to make proper calculations andascertain correct balances, thus making the receipting and recording ofpaid taxes an intricate and laborious task, and frequently, on accountof the complication arising therefrom, mistakes and miscalculations havebeen made, necessitating the review and recalculation of the whole Workdone.

By our improvement the tax-payer receives but a single receipt,embodying what he or she heretofore required a considerable number ofreceipts for, and the county treasurer retains a consolidated stub, andthe clerk or recorder a coupon embodying in brief the entirety of thereceipt given, which covers the entire field of taxation, and simplifiesthe records and decreases the labor, and particularly renders theliability of mistakes and miscalculations. a matter of grosscarelessness.

Our invention consists in the special construction, arrangement, and inthe combination of the several elements of the tax-receipt blank,substantially as hereinafter described, and set forth in the claims.

The drawing illustrates in plan view a taxreceipt blank made inaccordance with my invention.

The tanreceipt blank A, Which is printed upon a single sheet of paper,consists of the main body or original receipt-blank B, the briefduplicate coupon O, divided from the main-receipt blank by theperpendicular perforated line c', and the brief duplicate stub D at theopposite end of the main body A, and divided therefrom by theperpendicular perforated line d.

The main receipt, coupon, and stub Will each have a suitable heading,such as CORPORATION OF LEBANON, n Treasurers Ojice, Lebanon, Boone Co.,Ind. .1888. Received of the sum of .We dollars, in full of rst one-halfof taxes for the year of 1887, apportioned as follows:

Which headings are divided or separated from the lower or recordingportions by a headline, E.

The headings, there being a separate but a duplicate one for each, themain -receipt blank, coupon and stub blanks, may be of any suitable anddesired Wording, the main-receipt blank having preferably, in additionto the heading above given, the number of the tax duplicate, rates oftaxation, and total value of property, also a clause setting forth Whatthe State and county tax includes. I

The recording body of the main-receipt blank B is ruled or printed withperpendicular lines F G I-I I, to form the vertical columns F G H I thecolumn H being subdivided IOO by perpendicular line h to form a series0f vertical columns for insertion of locations, amounts, and generaldescriptions of land, dce., taxed, shown in the drawing as headed l-Section, 21,- Section, i- Sec.;7 f Section, Town, Range, Acres, Lot, andBlock, which columns 71 may be more or less, as occasions require.

The column F', at the left, is for the insertion of the numbers ofrecord. The column 1o G', next adjacent to the right, is Vfor theinsertion of description or name of property or thing taxed, and thecolumn I at the right of column h', for the amounts of tax, and isheaded Dollars and cents, it being divided by a vertical decimal-line,i.

The duplicate receipt-coupon C,whieh is at the right, and the duplicaterecord-stub D, which is at the left, of the main-receipt blank B, areeach divided by perpendicular lines 71; 2o k2 k3, to form a verticalduplicate number-column, 7a4, at the left,a dollar-and-cent column, ki,at the right, and a description or name eolumn, k, in the center, orintermediate between columns k* and laf', which columns 154, Z55, and kcontain the same matter and are duplicates of columns F", G', and I',respectively, in the main-receipt blank, the numbers, descriptions,and'amonnts in these'eolumns in the stub and coupon coinciding with thenumbers, descriptions, and amounts in the like columns in themain-receipt blank B.

The main-receipt blank B, coupon C, and stub vD will be divided into aseries of sepalrate and independent account spaces by 3 5 heavyhorizontal lines-such as L with footing-lines in the amount-columns, oneof the spaces being for the State and county, an other'forgravel-road-tax account, another for railroad-tax accounts, and anotherfor miscel- 40 laneous-taX accounts, each account having a separatefooting-line, so that the total amounts of the separate accounts may beascertained at a glance and footed Vup separate 'from the remainingaccounts, all of which accounts are directly under one another, so thatthe footings of all may be quickly added together to ascertain the totalamount of tax, or the sum of one or more accounts deducted from the sumof the balance of the accounts to ascer- 5o tain the amounts due inbalance.

At the lower right-hand corners ot' the stub D, main-receipt blank B,and coupon C is a horizontal space in which to represent thecash-balance, and printed near the lower end of the main-receipt blankis a synopsis of the laws on payment and taxation of properties, andbelow this, or at a convenient place near the bottom, is a line for thesignature of the treasurer o'f the county, who fills up and acknowledgesthe receipt of taxes. At the lower ends of the coupon and stub are linesand spaces 'for the signature of theperson who receives the money andfor general remarks. The advantages of our improved receipt will 6 5 bereadily apparent, it being only necessary to iill in in the proper`spaces the numbers, description of properties, amounts, and add up thewhole in the main-receipt blank, coupon, and stub, to correspond to eachother, tear off the coupon and keep same for future reference, tear olfthe main-receipt blank after signature of treasurer has been writtenthereon, giving same to payer, and a stub remains 'for reference oftreasurer or book-keeper.

The separate account-spaces formed bythe horizontal lines L aresubdivided by parallel horizontal lines to form horizontal spaces m forthe entry of the different items coming under the heads of t-he separateaccounts, these spaces and lines in the stub, main-receipt blank, andcoupon being directly on a line horizontally with each other, so that inmaking the entry in the main receipt it is simply necessary to followthe space in which the entry is made and fill in the space in the stuband coupon on a line with the entry to correspond, which preventsliability to err.

XVe are aware that a combined tax duplicate and receipt has been made inwhich the blank receipt is a separate sheet of ypaper secured betweenthe leaves upon which the tax-duplieates are printed, which blankreceipt normally covers and overlaps the said duplicate and is printedand filled in upon bothsides, as the leaf of an ordinary book, asdescribed in United States Letters Patent No. 365,396, dated June 28,1887, which patent virtually covers a tax-receipt book havingtax-receipt and tax-duplicate leaves arranged alternately therein, whichleaves must be turned backward and forward when iilling out or comparingthe receipts and duplicates, and such eonstruction we do not desire toclaim.

XVe claiml. A combined tax-receipt duplicate coupon and duplicate stubconsisting of a single sheet of paper ruled and printed and divided bythe perforations cd into three distinct parts or elements-i. e., themain or central tax-receipt blank, B, having a suitable heading andsuitable spaces vfor a plurality ofV complete accounts, the coupon C,and the stub D, one at the right and the other at the left of themain-receipt blank B, both of which are duplicates in brief of said mainreceipt and are detachable, substantially as shown and described.

2. The sheet of paper, A, (in one piece,) comprising the ruled andprinted tax-receipt B, the duplicate coupon C, and duplicate stub D, andhaving the perforations extending vertically from the lower to the upperedge of the sheet A midway, or approximately so, between said receipt Band coupon C, and between the receipt B and duplicate stub D, wherebyeither the coupon or main receipt, or both, may be detached,substantially as de-` scribed.

3. A combined tax receipt, coupon, and stub consisting of the singlesheet A, separated or divided by vertical perforations cd, as shown, toform three distinct connected but detachable parts-4t'. c., themain-receipt blank B, having a suitable heading and'ruled.

IOO

or printed to form the vertical columns F G H I', the duplicate couponC, and duplicate stub D, one at the right and the other at the left endof said sheet A, and each having a heading similar to the heading in themainreceipt blank B, and each being ruled or printed to forni thevertical columns 7J? k6 1:15, which correspond to the columns F G I inthe main-receipt blank, all substantially as shown, and for the purposedescribed.

et. The continuous sheet A,ruled an d printed to form and combine thethree followinglyarranged parts-i. e., the main-receipt blank B, havingsuitable vertical entry-columns divided horizontally by lines L M, asdescribed, the duplicate coupon C and stub D at the right and lett ofthe main-receipt blank B, having duplicate vertical entry-columns, andhaving horizontal spaces and horizontal lines to correspond to and in aline with the horizontal spaces and lines in the main blank receipt B,and bein g detachably divided off from the blank receipt by verticalperforations c d', substantially as described, and for the purpose setfort-h.

5. In a tax-receipt, the continuous sheet A, the main-receipt blank B,having the vertical dividing-lines F G II I, to form the number,descriptive, and amount columns F G I, and the intermediaterecording-columns, Il', and having the horizontal lines Il M, to dividethe entire main-receipt blank B into a given number of parts or spaces,WherebT the real tax, gravel-road tax, railroad tax, &c., may berecorded, so as to be independent of each other, and the removablecoupon C and stub D, having columns and lines to correspond with thecolumns and lines in the main receipt B, and each of said parts-t'. e.,the main receipt B, coupon C, and stub D-having lines and spaces' at thelower end on or in which signa tures or remarks may be w ri tten,substantially as described, and for the purpose set forth.

In testimony whereof we affix our signatures in presence of tWoWitnesses.

JOSIAI-I S. HARRISON. JOHN M. HOIVARD.

\Vit.11esses:

N. E. C. WHITNEY, J osEPH A. MINTURN.

